Last updated: 14.10.2023, 09:00 a.m.
By: Ines Alms
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Beechnuts should not be eaten raw. Lightly roasted in a pesto, they come into their own perfectly with their nutty taste. A simple recipe.
From September onwards, beechnuts can be found in abundance under European beeches. Children in particular enjoy bending down to pick up the little wild nuts and cracking them open with their fingers. And theoretically, you can also snack on them raw. But children in particular are advised against this in excess, because the nuts of the beech trees are slightly poisonous. They contain fagin, a substance that can cause abdominal pain. If you heat the beechnuts, the fagin is easily rendered harmless and the nuts are completely harmless. Processed into a pesto, the beechnuts become a free, refined substitute for pine nuts.
Recipe for a beechnut pesto with parsley
Beechnuts should be roasted before eating, otherwise they are indigestible. © Panthermedia/Imago
Basically, you can replace any type of nut or kernel in a pesto of your choice with roasted beechnuts. In this pesto recipe with parsley, however, the beechnuts come into their own. If you can't find enough beechnuts or don't want to peel as much, you can partially replace them with pine nuts or flaked almonds.
For the pesto you need the following ingredients (for four servings):
- 80 g beechnuts (peeled)
- 75 g parsley
- 1 clove of garlic
- 65 g Parmesan cheese (grated)
- 150 ml olive oil
- 1 squeeze of lemon juice
- Salt
- Pepper
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Preparation of the beechnut pesto
- To prepare, roast the beechnuts in a pan without oil for about 5 minutes, tossing regularly. Remove the beechnuts from the pan and allow to cool.
- Coarsely chop the parsley. Peel the garlic and cut it in half. Briefly mix the beechnuts in a flash chopper. Add parsley, garlic, Parmesan, 75 ml olive oil and lemon juice and blend to a paste. Gradually add more olive oil and blend until the pesto becomes smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
If you want to do even less work, you can also roast the peeled beechnuts heartily with a little salt in a pan as a quick snack, for example as a salad topping, or caramelize them as a popcorn substitute with a little sugar.